232 Burning Oil

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   My 232 in My DD 69 440  Sedan has always used oil,just more than usual lately,with blue smoke at stoplights.The car runs great,the plugs get dirty fast but they still fire good.I was just wondering if there is any easy remedy or immediate need to address this problem.

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DocCreer Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Oct/03/2009 Location: Portland Oregon Status: Offline Points: 1426	Post Options Post Reply Quote DocCreer Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: 232 Burning Oil Posted: May/18/2012 at 2:16pm
	My 232 in My DD 69 440 Sedan has always used oil,just more than usual lately,with blue smoke at stoplights.The car runs great,the plugs get dirty fast but they still fire good. I was just wondering if there is any easy remedy or immediate need to address this problem.
	69 440 sedan (totalled,junked) 69 440 wagon (sold to forum member. 73 Waggie (Gone) 78 Plymouth Volare Wagon 225,auto,(daily driver) 61 American Super(The Last Amc)

FuzzFace2 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/05/2007 Location: Connecticut Status: Offline Points: 6366	Post Options Post Reply Quote FuzzFace2 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May/18/2012 at 3:20pm
	Answer to both would be no as long as you keep oil in the crank case. Now do you know where the oil is getting to the plugs from? There are only 2 places it can, bad rings (read motor over haul) or bad valve seals (read maybe valve job?) The seals you can check and maybe change if you have the tools. Pull the valve cover, realy a rocker cover, and check if the seals are still on the top of the guides. You will need to look between the valve springs for them. Or if broken at the botton of the spring, on top of the head. Only place you would not see them is stuck in the oil pickup screen. Valve seals you can change in your drive way with hand tools and air compressure, I have heard of using rope to hold the valves in place too. Hope this helps. Dave ----
	75 GremlinX v8 76 GremlinX i6 (sons) 70 Javelin SST 390/4sp (360/5sp now) 70 Javelin 1/4 Drag car 360/auto

6705-5R AUS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/16/2008 Location: QLD, Australia Status: Offline Points: 580	Post Options Post Reply Quote 6705-5R AUS Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May/18/2012 at 5:46pm
	I had the same symptoms on my 232, ran great but burnt oil, in short it needed an engine rebuild. The bores needed doing as they were worn, particularly at the lower end. We ended up putting a sleeve into No 5 so we could go 30 thou over size for all six. That was over three years ago now. Been running like a charm ever since and doesn't use even one drop of oil. If you rebuild it I would recommend that you put a new oil pump in too, and do the head bolt modification to improve oil flow to the rocker shaft.
	67 American 440 Sedan (RHD)

vinny Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jan/05/2012 Location: Calgary Status: Offline Points: 488	Post Options Post Reply Quote vinny Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May/18/2012 at 8:03pm
	All good advice above. How many miles on the car? If up around 150K miles maybe worn out and the best would be to yank it out and do a proper overhaul. You could try a compression check. Not sure what they should be but I would guess 110 PSI minimum. Some say you can free sticking rings by pouring water down the carb at fast idle but I have never tried it. If you can get the pan off you might also take the head off and change rod bearings and rings. For sure if you do anything, as others have indicated, change the valve seals. Check out Northern autoparts for rebuild kits.

farna Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Supporter of TheAMCForum Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 7105	Post Options Post Reply Quote farna Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May/21/2012 at 11:40am
	If you plan on keeping it you can always pull the head and have it rebuilt (around $150, depending on shop/location and parts needed) now. That should help with oil consumption, and you'll quickly find out if it's rings. Then you can rebuild the short block later and have a good head to put back on. You can replace the valve stem seals without removing the head though. That might be all you want to do for now.
	Frank Swygert American Motors Cars Magazine www.amc-mag.com

billd Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 22772	Post Options Post Reply Quote billd Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May/21/2012 at 1:14pm
	Is it worse after you "back off" the accelerator, then hit it again? If worse under high vacuum conditions, it's probably valve seals. Keep in mind those things are over 30 years old.... and I was replacing them on engines with only 50K miles and 4 or 5 years of age back when, so you can imagine now....... AMC also changed to different valve seals around about 1971 after finding out the old rubber umbrellas just didn't cut it any more, and had too short a life. Anyway, get up to speed, let clear off the gas, then give it gas again - if there's a blue puff, probably the valve seals. SIMPLE to check on a 232 like fuzzface says - you'll be able to tell by just removing the valve cover.
	http://theamcpages.com http://antique-engines.com